Emanuel to help 'Ready for Hillary'

Rahm Emanuel will speak at two June fundraisers for a major super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton for president.

“Hillary is smart, she’s determined, and most importantly, she is a champion for the American people,” the Chicago mayor said in a statement from the Ready for Hillary super PAC. “I’m proud to make my support for her official, and I’m even prouder to join more than two million Americans encouraging her to run.”

“When I worked with her in the White House, I saw what an effective leader she was — like when she spoke out on women’s rights in Beijing and when she played an instrumental role in passing the Children’s Health Insurance Program,” the statement continued. “I’ve seen firsthand how Hillary has inspired women and men, and girls and boys, here in America and across the globe, and I know that as president, she would continue to move our country forward.”

Former President Bill Clinton will speak at a fundraiser for Emanuel in Chicago later in June.

Last October, Emanuel said he would support the former first lady and secretary of State if she ran in 2016. “I’m behind Hillary if she runs. And I think she will, but that’s up to her,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “If she runs, I’m in.”

Emanuel, a fixture in Democratic politics, worked on Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992 and served as a senior adviser in the Clinton White House. After serving as a congressman for Illinois’ 5th district and overseeing the Democrats’ takeover of the House as Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman in 2006, he moved into the White House as chief of staff for President Barack Obama.